05 | 2016 | Artist of the Year | The Weeknd | | The JUNO Awards

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Alternative R&B revolutionary, The Weeknd, remains one of the most enigmatic artists of the 21st century. The Grammy Award-nominated, platinum-selling trendsetter first rose to prominence with his three independent online releases in 2011 – “House of Balloons,” “Thursday”and “Echoes of Silence.” Under a creative alliance between the artist’s visionary collective XO and Republic Records, 2012’s Trilogy reached platinum status in the U.S. and Canada and debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200. Only a year later, “Kiss Land” would go on to reach #2 on the Top 200, #1 on iTunes and be named #5 on Entertainment Weekly’s “Best Albums of 2013” list. 2015 saw the release of his next musical statement, Beauty Behind the Madness, which became his first number one album on the Billboard 200, included the top-five single “Earned It” and produced the number-one singles “The Hills” and “Can’t Feel My Face”. The songs have simultaneously held the top three spots on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, making him the first artist in history to achieve this. He is also one of the 17 artists in history to have two singles on the top spots in charts simultaneously.